On Computers: Scrabble Flash  five wireless computers vs. you

In yet another attempt to electrify a venerable board game, Scrabble Flash arrives. Scrabble addicts will not be satiated.

Jim Hillibish

I keep wondering where tech will take us. The gee-whiz factor will be otherworldly. Or, in the case of Scrabble, ‘other-wordly.’

Scrabble, like Monopoly, remains a beloved institution. Mess with it at your peril. The online versions are wimpy without that tactile feel of the wood tiles and that wonderful sound as letters mix in the bag. Nothing replaces real.

But let’s try.

Enter Scrabble Flash, the high-tech game. Hasbro recently rolled out its elegant rewrite, or rewire, of the venerable word builder.

Relax. It’s not the end of the board game. In fact, the new game’s identification with Scrabble is very loose, mostly marketing. Think of it more like an electronic book, it’s gee whiz handy but no replacement for the real thing. Then again...

Here’s where we are: Five little plastic boxes with LED screens. Each is a computer. The cubes communicate with each other in a war to scramble your brain. They know when they are beside each other and they work together seamlessly to bust your chops.

It took me about 25 seconds from opening the box to playing my first word. Suddenly, I’m concentrating on the little screens, moving boxes, making mistakes, just like the wooden tiles. Then it hits me like a herd of Rottweilers: “Doggy.”

The boxes like that and flash approval, offering a celebratory beep. Here comes the next one, then the next.

This is not for the easily unhinged. You get only 75 seconds before the computers mock you. But, if you score a five-letter word, you win an extra 5 seconds on the next one. There’s no cheating. The system remembers already spelled words.

If five letters vex you, you can practice with four. Like any good arcade game, each stage leads to a tougher one –– in this case, a faster one. At the end, if you ever reach it, let’s just say you’ll need a quart of coffee.

How does it improve on Scrabble? You don’t need a board. You could play on a magazine in your lap or on an airliner fold-down table. If you’re a youngster, there’s no choking danger. If you’re older, this offers a total brain workout that should bode you well when you begin losing neurons in old age.

It can be solitary (you vs. five computers) or you can play in groups of humans. The system keeps everybody’s score.

When the novelty wears off, the serious gamesmanship takes over. Beware: You can easily blow off an afternoon here. I don’t suggest taking it to work or playing against spelling bee champions.

A friend of mine tried it and deemed it able to teach spelling to youngsters. Indeed, the game is listed for ages 8 and above. Its beeps and buzzes may delight kids and inspire them to greater wordiness, a handy life skill.

Scrabble addicts will not be satiated. There’s no substitute for the real thing. Still, if you have a few seconds of free time, it beats the deck out of solitaire.

This reminds me of a dice game we played as kids. The dice had letters instead of numbers. You rolled them and had a minute to find words. The names are Word Yahtzee, Dicewords and Spill and Spell. If you got frustrated, you threw the dice cup at your opponent.

You can justify the $29.99 for Scrabble Flash (cheaper than the board game). Call it a training tool for those Friday night family word tournaments with the real thing. This may be its greatest contribution to our culture. Batteries included.